| About Carousel Numinous |
| Carousel Numinous lived on the playa in Black Rock City at Esplanade and Certain (5:30) for two weeks in 2003. A Burning Man funded grant project, the three Carousels and Fire Tower encompassed the year's theme, "Beyond Belief", the metaphor being that once human kind experiences the mysterium tremendum of the numinous, it constructs matrices of rituals that reflect cultural memes in order to maintain a connection with that experience of the "Wholly Other". Jenny Bird combined elements of religions into panels and cars and decorations for each of the three carousels. These elements are common to all religions.
The Interactivity of the piece also flowed with the metaphor. People riding the carousels selected the car they liked and using foot power, moved the carousel. The circular motion of people and art reflected the circular motion of belief systems and the energy riders put into the carousels enabled them to encounter the Numinous as represented by the other carousels and Tim Beck's Fire Tower. An implied juxtaposition of all the energies "escaping" the various cars and their riders took place at the fire tower, where the creative force of those partaking in religious ritual was sent up into the playa sky when the tower released a 15 foot flame. All religions as a carnival ride, a swirling cacophony of sounds, lights, motion and art, all moving to the same essential point, the sacred fire, the wonder, dread or awe of the tower. To some, it was an encounter with the Numinous. To others, it was another cool art project. To some it was a place to trip out. To other a place to model and be photographed. To all, it is now a piece of Burning Man history.
The fabrication, construction and teardown was the joint effort of the work of many people who camped with us. The core group consisted of Jenny Bird Alcantara: (Concept, Design, Paintings, Art, Cars) a San Francisco based artist who received her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. "The Numinous Project and Burning Man enabled me to blend my love of carnival sideshows and carousels with my painting to create a whimsical art piece that could also be interactive."
John Mosbaugh: (Concept, Inside Roof, Research, Design) is a San Francisco based writer and artist. Everything he has learned about fire sculpture, he learned at Burning Man. He also writes x-rated puppet shows and runs the Carousel Numinous/Headless Maiden Bar. He is the ringmaster of this Numinous Saturnalia. Tim Beck: (Tower, Design, Engineering) brings nearly 20 years of fabrication experience with an extensive range of metals, spanning the fields of military aircraft repair and maintenance; pharmaceutical design; ornamental and structural ironwork; furniture prototype production and sculpture. Tower man, fabrication crew. His studio is located in Hayward, California. Shane Kelley: (Fabrication, Engineering, and overall Structure person) An ironworker by trade, he designed and fabricated the carousel structures providing a "canvas" for Jenny Bird's amazing art. Using his practical sense, garnered from his many years of experience, Shane was able to design the carousel structures to withstand the forces of the playa: high winds, reveling burners and wayward art cars.
Mike "Shekky" Brown: (Carpenter Extraordinaire) in addition to his tireless work on the Carousel Numinous, he fabricated most of the wood for the cars and carousels.
For more information on the Carousel Numinous, please direct emails to Mosbaugh at john@violetshivers.com
To read about the individual paintings and roof panels, go here.
To read the Camp Numinous Site, please proceed here
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